We’ve seen how amazingly lifelike some of the automata that the 18th and 19th Centuries produced – instrument players, writers (both kanji and french) and artist automata boggle the mind even now. However, I had not realised that a great deal of though and invention had also gone into the goal of reproducing human speech! I’m sure many of us have encountered Microsoft Mike and Mary – those robotic sounding voices that automatically generate audiobooks – and I was foolish enough to think that voice reproduction was a new thing. How daft I was. No – you’ll find that Mr Erasmus Darwin (the other Darwin’s grandfather) created a Speaking Machine in the 1770′s (fantastic recreation – it’s a talking head!) that was apparently so good… “as to deceive all who heard it unseen.“

Where as in 1846, Mr Joseph Faber had created the above ‘Euphonia’ which not only could be operated to whisper and talk, but could sing “God Save the Queen”. I’m not sure why there’s a mask of a man on the table though – very odd. There is an excellent page on the history of such machines here. Ever so clever – and opens up whole new avenues for Steampunk inventions! I wonder what they sounded like.